With Semien Still Out, La Stella Moves to Leadoff Spot for Athletics
Tommy La Stella is moving up in the world. Or at least in the A’s lineup.
La Stella, the regular second baseman since being acquired from the Angels just before the trade deadline, had hit second in his first three games with Oakland. And he was mostly in the No. 2 spot during his time with the Angels.
And he hadn’t led off last year, when he was an All-Star, or this year.
That’s no longer operative, because Sunday’s lineup against San Diego saw La Stella moved up to the leadoff spot in the series finale, swapping places with Ramón Laureano, who had been leading off since the A’s lost the services of shortstop Marcus Semien to pain in his left side.
Manager Bob Melvin said part of that was to keep the left-handers in his lineup spaced out, although clearly the two hits and a walk La Stella produced in Saturday’s 8-4 win over the Padres didn’t hurt.
“I try to keep the three-batter-minimum lefties away from each other,” Melvin said, referencing the new rule whereby relievers have to face three hitters. If the left-handers are stacked together in the lineup, the use of relievers becomes easier for the other side. And Matt Olson, after three hits Saturday, is being moved up to the cleanup spot.
“Tommy can hit one. He can hit two. He can hit three,” Melvin said. “You try to get him up there as much as you can based on the fact that he does put the ball in play, he does get a lot of hits, he does get on base. And we’re seeing that now.”
It’s been a weird week or so for La Stella, so much so that being moved up to lead off for the first time since 2018 hardly registers. He was traded to the A’s on Aug. 28, got into the lineup for the second game of a doubleheader in Houston on Aug. 29, then sat out with his new teammates after pitcher Daniel Mengden tested positive for the COVID-19 coronavirus.
He went hitless in his first two games, but looked like his old self Saturday. And he didn’t blame he layoff for any of it.
“It’s just like anything else; it’s kind of like getting back in spring training,” he said Sunday morning. “Obviously this wasn’t as long of a layoff, but a couple of pitches, a couple of at-bats and you’re good to go.
“I felt pretty good last night; I felt like I was swinging at good pitches. I had one at-bat where I felt like I chased some stuff, but for me, usually it comes down to making sure I’m swinging at a good pitch and something I can handle in the zone; I like my chances.”
La Stella isn’t likely to spend too much time leading off. Semien is on course for taking batting practice on the field Monday before the first of a five-game series against the Astros. And if that goes well, it’s possible he’ll be back and leading off come Tuesday, when the A’s and Astros play a doubleheader. And La Stella and Laureano will have to compete for batting second, seeing as both of them have spent the majority of 2019 in that slot.
“We’d love to have Marcus back (against the Astros),” Melvin said. “You just get used to a guy that’s in the lineup for 250 games or whatever it was (275). You know during the course of a season you’re going to have key guys out.
“And that’s the case for us right now, but you hold down the fort and look forward to getting them back, because that could end up being a real key series.”
Follow Athletics insider John Hickey on Twitter: @JHickey3
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